X-x rei reissued



(No Model.)

G. G'REIG.

STEAM PLOW. i

r Patented June 26, 1883..

N wat' V125; WENEN-"2 un@ npr-er, wmmsm, n. c.

' the work is performed faster.

'PATENT OFFICE.

Eiss `GEORGE GREIG, OF EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.

STEAM- PLOW.

SPECIFICATION formingrpart of Letters Patent N0. 279,937, dated June 26, 1883.

Application tiled December 8,1882. (No model.) Y

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I,v GEORGE GEEIG, of

Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, have invented certain new `and useful Improvements relating to Steam-Blowing, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements pertain to that system of steam-plowing in which the plows are hauled across-the field, by wire ropes or other ropes or chains, by the force of engines stationed at or near the margins, or at various lines serving as subdivisions, if it is a very large iield. I have discovered and have reduced to practical form means for overcoming difficulties and increasingV the effect by employing two or even three or more plowing-machines attached to the same rope at proper distances apart. The

present invention consists in thus combiningv two or more plowing-machines on one rope or chain, arranging them properly to divide the.n

furrowbetween them and match the several parts properly, and in details of the construetion for properly and conveniently operating with such combined machines in plowing fields of triangular or .other irregular shapes.

In my plowing-machines, as in others, Ican employ a considerable number of plowshares in one machine. It is practicable to carry ten, or possibly more, in one machine set in proper relations each to its neighbor. The limit is not found in the hauling power or in the strength of the rope, but in the practical difficulties of managing the long and wide machines which thus become necessary. By my plan of dividing the work between two or more machines, each carrying an attendant, a single set of engines and attendants serve fortwo or more machines of convenient size, which are collectivelyof more capacity than one could possibly be, and serve well in all emergencies, and The total length of rope required is also reduced by my invention. Another and very important advantage lies in the fact that with furrows of a given length only h alf as much rope as usual requires to be wound on any windlass.

The following is a description of what Iconsider the best means of carrying out the invention. v

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specication.

Figure l is a side elevation of one machine, certain portions being removed or broken away to better show the construction. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an outline on a smaller scale, showing the two machinescombined, with one operating-rope and set of engines. This gure shows also the paths of the t'wo plowing-machines, the one in strongand the other in faint dotted lines. Fig.

4 is a horizontal section through certain parts,

on a larger scale.

Similar vletters of reference indicate like` parts in all the figures. v

A is a length of wire-rope sufficient to extend across the widest portion of the field-and allow the necessary surplus, which surplus may be less than when only one plowing-ma chine is employed.- I will describe the invention as used with only two plowing-machines drawn by the same rope'A. Such will require a rope one and a half times as long as the field is wide.

B B are the anchored engines, secured by the anchorage obtained by their own wheels, or by any other ordinary or suitable means, on the sides or near the sides of the field, and provided with ordinary. or suitable means for moving along the respective edges of the field as the several strips are plowed bythe traversing of the rope and its attached plowing-machines backward and forward across the field.

O Care two plowing-machines, attached to the rope A at a distance apart equal to half the breadth of the field. In commencing to traverse across, one is at the edge of the iield and the other at the point h alf-way across. The

attendant on each takes` the proper steps to move his machine obliquely or directly lateral. relatively to the line of the rope, so as to take a proper hold on fresh earth, and, as the rope is l wound up by the engine B on the side toward which they are moving, both the pl owing-machines C and 'C are eifective and plow each siX or other proper number of furrows'. 'Ihis proceeds until the foremost plow, which was originally in the center of the iield, has reached the edge, and the rearmost plow, which was originally at the edge, has reached the middle.

Now the engine stops winding, the attendant on each plow takes the proper course to shift his machine laterally and also to tilt it or otherwise arrange it forplowing in the opposite direction. Thenthe engine B, which hasbeen winding in the rope, pays it out again by allowing its windlass to unwind freely, and the engine B. on the opposite side of the field, commences to wind in the rope. Under these conditions both plowing-machines C and C move steadily in the direction opposite to that,

before traversed, both again plowing six or, other number of furrows, and soon the machine, which was originally in the middle of the field, is again at the center line, ready to be again shifted laterally and start again for its edge. Thus each plowing-machine C plows not all the way, but only half the way across, the remainder of the distance being plowed by the other machine worked by the samel rope A, and caused to move at the same time by the same engine B.

The construction of the plowing-machine C C may be varied. I have shown-the general form set forth in a British patent to myself and brother in 1872, No. 3,498. My improvement consists in providing means for rapidly and easily shifting the positions of the machines on the rope, as shown in Figs. l and 2. This provision is available to shift the distances of the machines C C apart when the field widens or narrows, so that each shall have half the work. It will be seen that serious difficulties would be involved if the machines were always at a fixed distance apart, or, if it required much time and labor, to shift their `points of attachment to the rope.

Each plowing-machine is provided, in addition to its ordinary adjustments, with a large upright wheel or pulley, D, around which the cable makes a single turn. The wheel is equipped for taking a strong` hold ofthe cable either by a V-shaped groove lined with wood blocks,presenting the end of the grain to the cable, or by the clamps long known in connection with this class of machinery. This wheel need not be of great weight, or be mounted very strongly at the center, because the strain of the hauling in either direction is received by another device strongly connected to the frame of the plowing-1naehine, and taking hold of the wheel at the point where the strain of the hauling is received.

The wheel is formed with a series of holes, d, all close to the periphery and preferably equidistant apart. l have shown six; but the number may be increased or diminished.

Strong slide-bolts or dogs E, adapted to engage in one of these holes d, are mounted in strong housings in the framing on each side of the wheel. Each is strongly housed in a portion of the frame-work of the machine, and is subjected to the force of a spring, E, urging it into engagement with the holes d.

To an eye in the outer end of each dog E are attached two cords or chains, F F2, which pull practically in the same line-that of the eX- tended axis of E. The chain F is guided by a pulley, f revolving in bearings supported in the frame-work, and leads to a fastening-point, f, near one extremity of the machine,lwithin convenient reach of the operator when he sits at that end. The chain F is guided by apulley, f 2, and leads to v'a fastening-point near the opposite end of the machine, within convenient reach of the attendant when he rides on that end and the machine is going in the direction to require his presence there. There is a similar dog and a similar uset of chains and guiding-pulleys on the opposite side of the wheel. Both the chains F are attached to the same point near one end of the machine, and both chains F2 are represented as attached to a point near the opposite end of the machine. This attachment of two chains to the same point is not absolutely essential. It is suffi` cient that the two chains are placed within convenient access for the operator at the same time. They may, if preferred, be united together, so that the pulling on a single chain or cord, or a lever attached thereto, will work both bolts. So long as the two plowing-inachines C and C are at the proper distance apart the wheel D in each machine should be kept firmly locked by its dogs or bolts E; but so soon as it is desired to bring the machines C C nearer together the operator riding on the foremost machine should allow his wheel D to turn idly and allow the rope A to pass without correspondingly moving his machine. To effect this he pulls on the chains'F F or FZFZ, according to which direction the machine is going, and by tension thereon overcomes the forceof the springs E EV and draws the dogs E E out of their engagement in the hole d, and allows the wheel to turn idly a little, and then by releasing the chains allows the dogs to be pressed inward by their springs E E and engaged in the next hole d, which is presented thereto. The best rtime to do this is at the end of a furrow, when the rope A and the machines C are changing the direction of their motions. A signal to the attendant in charge of the operating-engines B will cause him to slow, and even toback a little at any time, to allow this operation to be conveniently effected.

The dogs E, entering from each side, meet at or near the middle of the thickness of the wheel D, and serve to lock the latter very firmly against motion in either direction. The machine retains its position on the rope reliably, and is worked backward and forward by the action of the engine B through the medium of the rope until there is again occasion to change the position, when the operation isrepeated. If the machines should be farther apart the rearmost should be thus dropped back and redogged in a new position fartherback. If they should be nearer together the foremost should drop back. If, by a succession of changes, both machines should be too near one end of the rope, both may be changed IOO IIO

simultaneously into a new` position on the ropef My machines .may have any ordinary or suitable provisions for raising and lowering the plows and for adjusting7 the inclination of the several plows, or adjusting the position of any of the parts.

I have shown each dog E as hollow, with the spring E recessed into it, and with a bar extending centrally the length of the recess, with an eye on the outer end, and engaging with the chains F F2. This arrangement al@` lows a greater length of spring than would be otherwise practicable in the same small compass; but this feature is not essential. I can work the invention successfully without such recessing of the dogs by giving a greater width to the frame. i

Modifications may be made. More plowingmachines may lbe used. If three are used, the spaces between the centers of the machines are each one-third ofthe entire distance across the iield. rIhe same means of shifting the spaces may be employed. @ne of the machines may always be permanently shackled or otherwise fixed to the rope. The provisions set forth in the said patent of 1872 Amay be adopted for widening or narrowing the space plowed at each passage of the machine. more or less than four plowshares in each ma chine. I can use subsoiling devices. I can omit or vary the means for adjusting the depth of the plowing. I can use a single engine on one side ofthe iield, having a suitable anchored pulley on the other side ofthe iield and returning the rope therefrom, so that one engine, by the aid ofthe long or endless rope, can work `the two or more plowing-machines in both directions. p

I esteem it practicable in good ground to dispense with attendants on one or on both 'or I can employ all of the plowing-machines and to make the shifting action automatic. Such working may succeed where thefields are of even breadth or where a large tract is divided into a number of sections, each of exactly rectangular form. Grubbers may be applied with or instead of plows. v

The invention may be used with plowshares of different forms from those here shown. I can substitute the forms of diggers or teeth, technically known as cultivators, or other devices of whatever name adapted to stir, harrow, or otherwise treat the earth on the surface orto any required depth. The invention may be applied on such devices not reversi ble, but adapted to be turned around at each changeof direction of motion of the rope.

I'claim as my inventionl. The combination of two 0r more plowingmachines, C C, with a single operatin-grope or chain, A, and impelling means B for the latter, the said plowingqnachines being adapt- 'ed to operate in both directions and simultaneously on separate iields, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2."In steam plowing-machines adapted to operate'in pairs or sets, moving, one behind another, as specified, the wheel or pulley D and controlling means adapted to hold and release the rope A, so as to increase or diminish the distance of the machines apart, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at the city and county of New York, this lithday of December, 1882, in the presenceof 'two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE GREIG. 

